
Dorothy C. O’Neil
Dorothy C. O’Neil is Co-Chair of the Family Law practice at Burns White. She has experience representing clients in all family law matters, with an emphasis on complex divorce, custody, and support matters, as well as paternity matters, prenuptial/postnuptial agreements, and protection from abuse cases.
With a unique ability to effectively manage the heightened emotions often found in this area of the law, Ms. O’Neil has successfully negotiated the settlement of cases, as well as litigated complex trials. She is also trained in the collaborative divorce process by the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
Prior to joining Burns White, Ms. O’Neil worked for a national domestic litigation firm, where she was named the firm’s Overall Top Attorney and Top Performer in her Region in 2013. In addition, she has worked at the Family Legal Center and held a Judicial Clerkship position at the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Family Division, in Indiana County.
In 2014, Ms.O’Neil completed the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s comprehensive trial program for family law matters. Offered in partnership with the American Bar Association Section of Family Law, this program provides attorneys with advanced and intensive training in family law.
Ms. O’Neil graduated, magna cum laude, from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University in 2009. She received a B.S., summa cum laude, in Political Science from Gannon University in 2006.
Areas of Law
- Family Law
Education
- Cleveland State University (J.D., magna cum laude, 2009)
- Gannon University (B.S., summa cum laude, 2006)
Bar and Court Admissions
- Pennsylvania
Memberships
- Allegheny County Bar Association
- Family Law Section
- International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
- Collaborative Law Association of Southwestern Pennsylvania
Honors/Awards
- Selected by her peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America® in 2021 for Family Law
- Best Law Firm Mentor award recipient, The Legal Intelligencer, 2018
- Selected for inclusion on the 2014-2019 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® “Rising Stars” lists
- Selected for the Allegheny County Bar Foundation Class of 2015 Young Lawyer Fellows
Community Involvement
- Children’s Hospital Auxiliary Member for the Transplant Group
- “COVID-19 Shutdown: The Challenges and Options for Parties in the Process of Divorce,” Burns White Insights, April 2020
- Is ‘Conscious Uncoupling’ Becoming a Trend in America?, The Legal Intelligencer, July 11, 2019
- Shifting the Family Law Paradigm: The Collaborative Law Movement, The Legal Intelligencer, July 4, 2018
- The Uncertainty and Reality of Transgender Marriage in Pennsylvania, The Legal Intelligencer, July 11, 2017
- Constitutionality of PA’s Grandparent Statute under question in D.P. and B.P. vs G.J.P and A.P, Lawyers Journal, March 18, 2016
- How to Keep a Business Through a Divorce, The Legal Intelligencer, July 14, 2015
- Understanding QDROs and like Orders for Dividing Retirement Plans in Divorce, ACBA Webinar, January 2021